Listen Up To Der Bingle Or Even Stevie Wonder

In desperate last-minute need of some new cheery Christmas music to establish the proper atmosphere around the old homestead?

Don`t panic. Tower Records, 2301 N. Clark St., is open until midnight. And remember, every Christmas item you buy today will be one less they have to pack away tomorrow.

The old reliables are a fine place to start our last-minute CD shopping excursion. Bing Crosby`s MCA release ``Merry Christmas`` presents Der Bingle`s beloved yuletide catalog in all its sentimental glory, including his immortal rendering of ``White Christmas.``

You think Crosby`s smooth? Try ``Season`s Greetings From Perry Como`` on RCA, which features the entirely fitting ``(There`s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays.``

A young Frank Sinatra goes ``Christmas Dreaming`` on Columbia, tastefully swinging ``Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!`` as only the future Chairman of the Board could.

No pop noel selection is complete without Nat King Cole`s velvety rendition of ``The Christmas Song.`` Capitol`s disc of the same title is a warm holiday excursion by the late crooner.

Oldies enthusiasts will love ``Elvis` Christmas Album,`` a 1958 RCA classic that blends the perennials with Presley`s ``Blue Christmas`` and a lowdown ``Santa Claus Is Back in Town.``

Glistening harmonies abound on ``The Beach Boys` Christmas Album,`` a 1964 Capitol album that ranges from the rocking ``Little St. Nick`` to a traditional ``We Three Kings of Orient Are.``

Producer Phil Spector put his distinctive stamp on the 1963 album ``A Christmas Gift for You,`` recently reissued by Abkco. Darlene Love, the Ronettes and the Crystals decorate Spector`s Wall of Sound with bright tinsel. Motown honcho Berry Gordy Jr. was aware of the sales potential of yuletide fare during the 1960s. The Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Stevie Wonder have at least one soulful Christmas disc apiece on the shelves.

``Santa`s Got a Brand New Bag,`` and James Brown is toting it. Rhino`s groove-laden collection by the Godfather of Soul includes his funky 1968 treatise ``Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto.``

Rhino also offers a wide assortment of Christmas anthologies, usually built around a specific stylistic theme. Among the standouts: ``Blue Yule:

Since the joy of the season inevitably fades too soon, ``The Alligator Records Christmas Collection`` provides a fitting nightcap. The new disc features Chicago blues greats Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks and Son Seals.

For bizarre noel novelties, it`s tough to top EMI`s ``Legends of Christmas Past, A Rock n` R&B Holiday Collection.`` There you`ll encounter Lon Chaney Jr. donning his warm wolfman suit for ``Monster Holiday`` and Canned Heat getting down with none other than the Chipmunks (talk about the ultimate supergroup collaboration)!